Acquisition vs. memorization trade-offs are modulated by walking distance and pattern complexity in a large-scale copying paradigm.

In a "block-copying paradigm", subjects were required to copy a configuration of colored blocks from a model area to a distant work area, using additional blocks provided at an equally distant resource area. Experimental conditions varied between the inter-area separation (walking distance) and the complexity of the block patterns to be copied. Two major behavioral strategies were identified: in the memory-intensive strategy, subjects memorize large parts of the pattern and rebuild them without intermediate visits at the model area.

Simulated visual homing in desert ant natural environments: efficiency of skyline cues.

Desert ants, foraging in cluttered semiarid environments, are thought to be visually guided along individual, habitual routes. While other navigational mechanisms (e.g.